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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Spotlight: Complete Surrender by Ju Ephraime

Blurb:

Raymond LaCasse had just
completed his studies in Paris and was on his way home, to the French

Caribbean
island of Martinique, little did he know sharing a taxi with a beautiful
stranger would change his life in ways he could have never imagined. His
couldn’t get the beautiful woman out of his mind, long after she had collected
her belongs and left the taxi they’d shared on the way to the airport. Who was
this gorgeous woman? He wish the drive had been longer, so he could have spent
a longer time in her company. He’d get his wish, but not in the way he’d
imagined.

Gabrielle Descotte, a model by
profession, had agreed to assist her brother in carrying out an illegal feat.
She loved her brother dearly and would do anything for him, but when she met
his intended target, Raymond LaCasse, she swiftly had a change of heart. She
now had to choose, her brother or the man who occupies her every waking moment,
to the exclusion of all else.

Divided by loyalties and bound by
a desire that drives them into each other’s arms, Raymond and Gabrielle find
themselves in a convoluted web of deceit and danger that almost destroy their
new-found love and tear them apart….

Raymond was feeling on top of the world. He was on his way to the
airport to catch a flight back to his island home of Martinique. He had been
gone for a little over five years now, and it would be good to be home to see
his family. The last time he had visited was to attend his brother, Wolfe's
wedding. Wolfe had married an American, and they’d just had a new baby. He had
also found out that, in the past six months, his other brother, Wolfe's twin.
Foxx, had himself married a foreigner, this time a British woman. He had yet to
meet her because, according to Wolfe, their wedding had taken place in an
almighty big hurry because, supposedly, Therèse, Foxx's
new wife, was with child. They had deprived his mother of her customary big
wedding, although they did get married in the same church Daphne and Wolfe had
gotten married. It was a very simple affair that only a few family members
attended. If he knew his maman, she
must have been beside herself. Oh well.

He hated having to leave Paris in the winter, but it couldn't be
avoided. His family was very close, and he did not want to go another year
without seeing them. His sister, Franchesca, who was older than him by four
years, had graduated with her doctorate and was just beginning to get comfortable
in her new job. He, on the other hand, was satisfied with getting his master’s;
he didn't have the ambition to go on to get his doctorate like Franchesca. He
had landed a job with a large investment firm in Paris while attending
university. The money was good, and the company was solid. He had been there
for the duration of his four years of college.

He was getting impatient; the cab should have been here already.
He detested having to race through the airport to get to his plane. The
security at the airport was so tight that anyone caught rushing was immediately
held back, enough to slow them down and, often times, causing that individual
to miss his or her flight. He prayed
this would not be his fate today. He had no intention of hanging around the airport
terminal.

Just then, he heard a horn, and as he looked out of the window, he
saw that it was the cab. Grabbing his suitcase and coat, he gave one last look
around his apartment and raced down the stairs. Lucky for him, he was only on
the third floor.

He was in such a hurry he didn't even have the time to put his
coat on, so, as he rushed into the cab, he placed his coat on the seat next to
him and proceeded to give the chauffeur instructions to take him to the
airport. He settled back and closed his eyes because if he remained with his
eyes open, he would be tempted to leap over the front seat and take control of
the wheel. This way, it was safer for both him and the driver.

The slowing down of the vehicle caused his eyes to snap open.
There was no way they could be there already.

“Why are we stopping?"

“Je dois prendre un autre
passager. I have to pick up another passenger," the driver informed
him.

“That is ridiculous nonsense,” he complained to the driver.

Just then, as if on cue, a woman stepped out of the building. To
admit to her being sensational would have been an understatement. She looked sensational.
She was carrying a black overcoat and dressed all in black, with skin-tight
pants, a body-hugging top and black riding boots, which drew attention to her
long firm-looking legs.

As she came closer, he realized she was the other passenger the
driver had stopped to pick up. Climbing into the cab, she said a brief hi to
him and proceeded to arrange her coat in the space between them.

He couldn’t help thinking that she had the most unusual eyes he’d
ever seen. They were the lightest copper in color, as if lit from behind,
causing them to glow like two large pennies. Her eyes gave her an innocent
appearance until you took in her full, sensuous lips, which looked as if they
were made for passionate nights.

Her skin was a smooth honey tone, and her hair was long and of a
dark color. He couldn’t tell whether it was black or dark brown. A riot of
curls framed her beautiful face. Whatever scent she was wearing must have gone
to his head because, all of a sudden, he had a massive erection.

Sensing his distress, and thinking it was out of his displeasure
at having to share a cab, she turned to apologize to him. But having the full
effect of those gorgeous eyes on him was too much for Raymond. He found himself
with the overwhelming desire to kiss those succulent lips. The desire was so
powerful he almost found himself carrying out the thought before he got himself
back in hand.

He had to get a hold of himself before he assured her that he
didn't mind sharing a cab with her. That was all he could say, so he closed his
eyes, trying to shut her out, but she was all around him with her alluring
scent. He refused to open his eyes to look into hers again—refused to allow her
to see his vulnerability.

When he thought she was not looking, he stole a glance at her ring
finger, looking for a wedding ring. He couldn't help thinking, If I had a wife who looked like this, I
would not allow her to travel anywhere alone.

She caught him looking at her hand and gave him the most beautiful
smile, and Lord, she had the two deepest dimples in her cheeks. He was lost; he
had a strong partiality to women with dimples. He would really be screwed if he
wasn't careful. So confused was he that he shifted away from her, leaving his
belongings on the seat between them, as he tried desperately to hide an
erection that just wouldn’t quit.

All too soon, the cab stopped to let the woman off. She turned to
him and thanked him again for allowing her to share his cab. He again
reiterated that it was nothing. But, as he sat in the cab watching her walk
away, he could not help thinking, There
goes my ideal woman, and he hadn’t even asked her name. What a fool he was.
Then it was his turn to be let off. Grabbing his suitcase and his coat, he made
the same dash he’d been trying to avoid to the security area. Lucky for him,
the line was not long because everyone was already on the plane.

He made it through security with barely enough time to get to the
plane before they were taxiing the runway to take off.

He slept for most of the almost nine-hour flight. As the plane
gained altitude, his ears began to pop. He always carried a packet of gum for
just such an occasion, but he’d forgotten to take it out of his coat pocket. Reaching
into the overhead storage, he tried searching for the gum but couldn’t seem to
locate it. Taking the coat down from the bin to search more carefully, he was
assaulted by the unique scent that the woman had been wearing in the cab. It
was a faint scent of wild orchid. Why was the woman’s scent on his coat? He
reached inside the pocket and took out the cell phone. It was vibrating like
crazy, but he wouldn't dare answer it for fear of causing the flight attendant to
come after him. He went into the bathroom with the coat, and the smell and feel
of the coat hit him anew. It was even more powerful in the small confined space
of the aircraft bathroom. His reaction was just as powerful too. Now he would
have to walk out of the bathroom holding the coat in front of him. He didn’t
want his fellow passengers to think him a pervert.

This did not solve the problem of how he
came to be carrying the woman's coat and not his own. He went through the coat and
saw that she had only the phone in the coat. His coat, on the other hand, had all
his personal belongings, his keys, wallet with credit card, his phone, and, of
course, his gum and some wipes. He needed his coat only to get to the airport.
Where he was going, he had no need for a coat. He'd have to wait until his
plane landed in Martinique before he would try to find a way to get her coat
back to her. What a quandary he’d found himself in now. He only hoped she would
realize it was a genuine mistake and that he’d had no intention of stealing her
coat, or had he subconsciously?

About the Author:

Ju Ephraime began writing
professionally at the age of 19, but her love of romantic literature developed
when she was a teenager, where she often found herself dallying with her own
tales of love and romance.

Two decades later, Ju decided to
write novels for women who enjoy a quick spicy-themed read that includes pure
pleasure and escape from the real world. With nine romantic novels to her
credit, Ju admits her books are part fact, part imagination – but only she
knows what’s what. After writing Temptation to Sin, her fans didn’t want to let
go of Jayden’s character, so she wrote a sequel to his story – and Against All
Odds was effortlessly created in Ju’s mind. Without spoiling the tale for her
fans, she firmly believes her readers will enjoy the twists and turns that
Jayden and his new love Genna deal with to achieve insatiable undying love. Ju
lives in Connecticut with her husband, who blushingly reads every loving tale
that she publishes.

She has now released her third in
her LaCasse series, Complete Surrender. Set in the beautiful French Caribbean
of Martinique, the story of Raymond Lacasse and Gabrielle Descotte sizzles with
a level of heat that only the French is reportedly able to achieve. Check it
out for yourself, and then you decide.